Method and system for displaying drop down list boxes

ABSTRACT

A method and system for displaying a drop down list box. The method and system may include associating a history record with a drop down list box. The method and system may also include associating a filter box with the drop down list box. the method and system may also include associating a unique identifier with each choice in the drop down list box. The method and system may also include associating a hierarchical structure containing more detailed information about choices in the drop down list box with the drop down list box. Finally, the method and system may include displaying the choices in the drop down list box to a user as a function of at least one of the associated history record, filter box, unique identifier, or hierarchical structure.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a software tool for displaying dropdown list boxes (“DDLB”). Specifically, it associates the choices in aDDLB with relevant information, thereby making it easy for a user tonavigate the DDLB.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION

Users often do not like complex value searches and instead prefer theease of use of a DDLB. DDLBs are one of the most commonly used controlsfor data selection. They are easy to use and well received by end users.DDLBs typically allow a user to select a single value. However,depending on the amount and structure of possible entries, differentselection modes may be necessary to best meet the user's requirements.Examples of common selection modes are hierarchical value structures ortree structures. These selection modes may be used, for example, todisplay positions in an organizational structure, skills in a skillscatalog, or products in a product catalog. Currently, these selectionmodes require the user to switch screens to access them. Alternatively,they may appear in a modal pop-up window. In either case, the user'stask flow is interrupted.

DDLBs are limited in function. For enhanced searching, more cumbersomemechanisms must be employed. DDLBs contain a single column and thereforeonly allow for simple value searches. A user may type a character andthe value list may then position the cursor at the first hit of thecharacter in the list. Each time the character is pressed on thekeyboard, the cursor may be moved to the next choice in the DDLB whichbegins with that character. In contrast, extended value searches usuallyappear in a modal pop-up with a two column (key/value) table and afilter row. The user selects a table entry in a certain row and therebyapplies the selected entry to the input field. Once again, the modalpop-up window interrupts the user's work flow.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a simplified block diagram of a computer system according toan embodiment of the present invention;

FIGS. 2-3 illustrate an example History Record Database and an exampleindividual history record, as referenced in FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a dataflow diagram illustrating operation of one embodiment ofthe present invention; and

FIGS. 5-7 are example embodiments of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Embodiments of the present invention work cooperatively with existingsoftware applications to display DDLBs. A DDLB may be associated with ahistory record in which the last choices in the DDLB selected by theuser are stored. For example, in a DDLB pertaining to sales people, thelast sales people selected by the user may appear on top of the rest ofthe choices in the DDLB.

A DDLB may also have a filter box associated with it. A user may enterone or more characters to limit the selections displayed to him. Severalspecial characters may also be designated which take the place of otherletters. For example, the symbol “*” may stand for any string ofcharacters, single or multiple. The “*” may be used in the beginning, inthe middle or at the end of a term. It may also be used multiple timesin a term. The term “Ad*” may therefore match any of the followingentries: Administration, Address, Additional Payment, etc. As anotherexample, the symbol “+” may also be used at the beginning, in the middleor at the end of a term. The “+” may also be used multiple times in aterm. The “+” may stand for exactly one character. The term “Me+er” maytherefore match any of the following entries: Meier, Meyer, Meler, etc.In addition, the term “M+++er” may match any of the following entries:Miller, Mister, Master, etc.

Also, a DDLB may contain choices which are each associated with a uniqueidentifier. The unique identifiers may appear alongside the choices inthe drop down list box as an adjacent column. There may be a filter boxassociated with the unique identifiers, and a user may be able to enterone or more characters in the filter box to limit the choices display tohim. For example, the term “02*” may be entered by the user in thefilter box pertaining to the unique identifiers. The term “02*” maymatch any of the following entries: 020, 0212, 02999, etc.

A DDLB may contain multiple columns, and there may be a filter boxassociated with one or more columns in the DDLB. For example, a DDLBpertaining to human resources may contain the following columns: name,address, birthday, start date. There may be a filter box associated withone or more of the following columns: name, address, birthday, startdate.

Additionally, a DDLB may be associated with a hierarchical structure,such as a tree structure or a table. When the user selects the DDLB, thehierarchical structure may be displayed. For example, the purpose of theDDLB may be for a user to select a sales person. Then, when the userselects the DDLB, a table may be presented containing detailedinformation about each sales person. This may enable the user to reviewdetailed information about each sales person while navigating through aDDLB rather than a modal pop-up window.

FIG. 1 is a simplified block diagram of an exemplary computer system 100suitable for use with the present invention. The CPU 106 may associate ahistory record with a specific user and a specific DDLB. Thisassociation may be stored in the History Record Database 116. Anexemplary History Record Database 116 and individual history records areillustrated in FIGS. 2-3. The CPU 106 may associate a filter box with aspecific DDLB. A filter box enables a user to narrow down the choicesdisplayed in the DDLB by typing one or more characters. Specificinstances of filter box filters are discussed above. This associationmay be stored in the Filter Box Database 112. The CPU 106 may associatea unique identifier with each choice in a specific DDLB. The uniqueidentifier may be a string of characters and may contain both lettersand numbers. This association may be stored in the Unique IdentifierDatabase 114. The CPU 106 may associate a hierarchical structurecontaining more detailed information about choices in the DDLB with aspecific DDLB. The hierarchical structure may be, for example, a treestructure or a table. This association may be stored in the HierarchicalStructure Database 118.

A user may select a DDLB via input/output device 104, such as a keyboardor a mouse, for example. The CPU 106 may access the DDLB Module 110 viathe network 108. The CPU 106 may send a reference to the presentlyselected DDLB and a reference to the present user to the DDLB Module 110via the network 108. The user may be uniquely identified during a log-inprocedure. The DDLB Module 110 may search the History Record Database116, the Filter Box Database 112, the Unique Identifier Database 114,and the Hierarchical Structure Database 118 to determine whether any ofthe above databases contain one or more associations to the presentlyselected DDLB. For example, the History Record Database may contain ahistory record associated with the present user and the present DDLB. Asanother example, the Filter Box Database may contain a filter boxassociated with the present DDLB. If none of the databases contain anassociation to the presently selected DDLB, the DDLB Module 110 may sendthis information back to the CPU 106 via the network 108. The CPU 106then may present the DDLB to the user without any enhancements via thedisplay 102. In this instance, the DDLB may be presented in a simplelist format. If one or more of the databases contains an association tothe presently selected DDLB, the DDLB Module 110 may retrieve theassociation information from the one or more databases and send it backto the CPU 106 via the network 108. For example, the Unique IdentifierDatabase 114 may contain an association to the present DDLB. The uniqueidentifiers associated with the choices in the DDLB may be retrieved andreturned to the CPU 106 via the network 108. As another example, theremay be a hierarchical structure, such as a table, associated with thepresent DDLB. The hierarchical structure associated with the DDLB may beretrieved and returned to the CPU 106 via the network 108. After theassociation information is sent back to the CPU 106, the CPU 106 maypresent the DDLB to the user via the display 102 with the extrainformation derived from the one or more databases.

Once the user selects a choice from a DDLB, the CPU 106 may send areference to the selection via the network 108 to the DDLB Module 110.The DDLB Module 110 may access the History Record Database 116. The DDLBModule 110 may locate the records pertaining to the current user, andmay locate the record pertaining to the presently selected DDLB. TheDDLB Module 110 then may store the current selection in the historyrecord pertaining to the current user and to the presently selected DDLBin the History Record Database 116.

FIGS. 2-3 illustrate an example History Record Database and an exampleindividual history record, as referenced in FIG. 1. The History RecordDatabase 200 may consist of a set of history records 202 for each user.A user may be uniquely identified when he logs onto the system. Eachuser may have a separate history record 300 for each DDLB. Each historyrecord, in turn, may store information about the entries in the DDLBpreviously chosen by the user. This information may be stored as info 1302, info 2 304, etc. For example, a DDLB to select a color may containthe following choices: black, blue, brown, green, orange, purple, pink,red, yellow. A user may select “orange” the first time he accesses theDDLB. The history record associated with that specific user and thatspecific DDLB may store “orange” as the first entry in info 1 302. Whenthe user next accesses the DDLB, “orange” may appear as the historyassociated with that DDLB. The history may be presented above thechoices of the DDLB. The history may be separated from the choices ofthe DDLB by a bold line, for example. A user may select “brown” the nexttime he accesses the DDLB. The history record associated with thatspecific user and that specific DDLB may store “brown” as the secondentry in info 2 304. When the user next accesses the DDLB, “orange” and“brown” may appear as the history associated with that DDLB. A user mayselect “green” the next time he accesses the DDLB. The history recordassociated with that specific user and that specific DDLB may store“green” as the third entry in info 3 306. When the user next accessesthe DDLB, “orange,” “brown” and “green” may appear as the historyassociated with that DDLB.

FIG. 4 is a dataflow diagram of one embodiment of the present invention.In 400, the drop down list box may be associated with at least one of(a) a history record, (b) a filter box, (c) a unique identifier, or (d)a hierarchical structure containing more detailed information aboutchoices in the drop down list box. The history record may contain aseparate set of records for each individual user. Each set of recordsmay, in turn, contain a separate history record associated with eachDDLB. The filter box may allow a user to type in one of more charactersto narrow down the number of choices displayed in the DDLB. There may bea unique identifier associated with each choice in the drop down listbox. Each unique identifier may contain characters, including numbersand/or letters. The hierarchical structure may be a tree or a table. In402, the choices in the DDLB may be displayed as a function of at leastone of (a) the associated history, (b) the associated filter box, (c)the associated unique identifier, or (d) the associated hierarchicalstructure. For example, if there is a history record associated with thepresent user and the present DDLB, the last several choices selected bythe user in the present DDLB may be presented above the rest of thechoices in the DDLB. The choices reflected in the history and the otherDDLB choices may be separated by a bold line. As another example, if ahierarchical tree is associated with the DDLB, the hierarchical tree maybe presented to the user in place of the DDLB choices. The hierarchicaltree may contain all the choices that were present in the DDLB alongwith additional information about the choices in the DDLB.

FIG. 5 is an example embodiment of the present invention. Thisembodiment of the present invention 500 incorporates several features.Each choice in the DDLB is associated with a unique identifier, the “ITKey” 502. There is also history 508 associated with the DDLB. The threechoices in the shaded boxes at the top of the DDLB reflect the lastthree choices made by the user in this DDLB. There are two filter boxesat the top of the DDLB. In the filter box below the “IT Key” 504, a usermay type one or more characters and narrow down the choices displayed inthe DDLB by the IT Key. For example, a user may type “001” in this boxand the DDLB would only contain the choices corresponding to IT Keys0011, 0014 and 0015. In the filter box below the “Infotype Text” 506, auser may type one or more characters and narrow down the choicesdisplayed in the DDLB by the Infotype Text. For example, a user may typethe letter “P” in this box and the DDLB would only contain the choicesbeginning with the letter P, i.e. Personal Data, Payroll Status, andPlanned Working Time.

FIG. 6 is another example embodiment of the present invention. Thisembodiment of the present invention 600 incorporates a hierarchicalstructure, i.e. a tree, with the DDLB. This hierarchical tree may bepresented in place of a DDLB to enable the user to choose any of thefollowing: a region 602, region code 604, sales person 606, product 608,etc. The hierarchical tree provides additional information about theregion 602, region code 604, sales person 606 and product 608categories. A user may choose his selection from the tree by clicking onthe appropriate box.

FIG. 7 is another example embodiment of the present invention. Thisembodiment of the present invention 700 incorporates a hierarchicalstructure, i.e. a table, with the DDLB. This DDLB is used to choose acomputer model number. The table provides additional information aboutthe computers rather than just the computer model number. For example,the table is divided into desktops 702 and laptops 704. The type ofdesktop listed is Apple 706. The type of Apple desktops listed are eMac708, iMac 710, Mac Mini 712 and Power Mac 714. The two types of AppleeMacs listed are Apple eMac G4Desktop with 17″ M9835LL/A (1.42 GHzPowerPC G4, 512 MB RAM, 160 GB Hard Drive, SuperDrive) and Apple eMacG4Desktop with 17″ M9835LL/A (1.42 GHz PowerPC G4, 256 MB RAM, 80 GBHard Drive, DVD/CD-RW Drive). A user may choose a computer model numberfrom the table by clicking on the appropriate row.

1. A method of displaying a drop down list box, comprising: associatingat least one of (a) a history record with a drop down list box, (b) afilter box with a drop down list box, (c) a unique identifier with eachchoice in a drop down list box, or (d) a hierarchical structurecontaining more detailed information about choices in a drop down listbox with the drop down list box; and displaying the choices in a dropdown list box as a function of at least one of (a) the associatedhistory record, (b) the associated filter box, (c) the associated uniqueidentifier, or (d) the associated hierarchical structure.
 2. The methodof claim 1, wherein the history record is associated with the drop downlist box, and the choices in the drop down list box are displayed as afunction of the associated history record.
 3. The method of claim 1,wherein the filter box is associated with the drop down list box, andthe choices in the drop down list box are displayed as a function of theassociated filter box.
 4. The method of claim 1, wherein a uniqueidentifier is associated with each choice in the drop down list box, andthe choices in the drop down list box are displayed as a function of theassociated unique identifiers.
 5. The method of claim 1, wherein thehierarchical structure is associated with the drop down list box, andthe choices in the drop down list box are displayed as a function of theassociated hierarchical structure.
 6. The method of claim 1, wherein thehistory record is determined based on the last entries chosen by a userin the drop down list box.
 7. The method of claim 1, wherein the filterbox is associated with the choices in the drop down list box.
 8. Themethod of claim 1, wherein the filter box is associated with the uniqueidentifiers associated with the choices in the drop down list box. 9.The method of claim 1, wherein: the drop down list box contains aplurality of columns; and a plurality of filter boxes are associatedwith the plurality of columns in the drop down list box.
 10. The methodof claim 1, wherein the filter box enables a user to limit the presentedchoices in the drop down list box by entering one or more characters inthe filter box.
 11. The method of claim 1, wherein the unique identifieris one or more characters which uniquely identifies a choice in the dropdown list box.
 12. The method of claim 1, wherein the hierarchicalstructure is a tree structure.
 13. The method of claim 1, wherein thehierarchical structure is a table.
 14. The method of claim 1, whereinthe displaying is done after a user clicks on the drop down list box.15. An article of manufacture comprising a computer readable mediumstoring instructions adapted to be executed by a processor, theinstructions, when executed, defining a method of displaying a drop downlist box, the method comprising: associating at least one of (a) ahistory record with a drop down list box, (b) a filter box with a dropdown list box, (c) a unique identifier with each choice in a drop downlist box, or (d) a hierarchical structure containing more detailedinformation about choices in a drop down list box with the drop downlist box; and displaying the choices in a drop down list box as afunction of at least one of (a) the associated history record, (b) theassociated filter box, (c) the associated unique identifier, or (d) theassociated hierarchical structure.
 16. The article of claim 15, whereinthe history record is associated with the drop down list box, and thechoices in the drop down list box are displayed as a function of theassociated history record.
 17. The article of claim 15, wherein thefilter box is associated with the drop down list box, and the choices inthe drop down list box are displayed as a function of the associatedfilter box.
 18. The article of claim 15, wherein a unique identifier isassociated with each choice in the drop down list box, and the choicesin the drop down list box are displayed as a function of the associatedunique identifier.
 19. The article of claim 15, wherein the hierarchicalstructure is associated with the drop down list box, and the choices inthe drop down list box are displayed as a function of the associatedhierarchical structure.
 20. The article of claim 15, wherein the historyrecord is determined based on the last entries chosen by a user in thedrop down list box.
 21. The article of claim 15, wherein the filter boxis associated with the choices in the drop down list box.
 22. Thearticle of claim 15, wherein the filter box is associated with theunique identifiers associated with the choices in the drop down listbox.
 23. The article of claim 15, wherein: the drop down list boxcontains a plurality of columns; and a plurality of filter boxes areassociated with the plurality of columns in the drop down list box. 24.The article of claim 15, wherein the filter box enables a user to limitthe presented choices in the drop down list box by entering one or morecharacters in the filter box.
 25. The article of claim 15, wherein theunique identifier is one or more characters which uniquely identifies achoice in the drop down list box.
 26. The article of claim 15, whereinthe hierarchical structure is a tree structure.
 27. The article of claim15, wherein the hierarchical structure is a table.
 28. The article ofclaim 15, wherein the displaying is done after a user clicks on the dropdown list box.
 29. A computer system for displaying a drop down listbox, comprising: an arrangement for associating at least one of (a) ahistory record with a drop down list box, (b) a filter box with a dropdown list box, (c) a unique identifier with each choice in a drop downlist box, or (d) a hierarchical structure containing more detailedinformation about choices in a drop down list box with the drop downlist box; and an arrangement for displaying the choices in a drop downlist box as a function of at least one of (a) the associated historyrecord, (b) the associated filter box, (c) the associated uniqueidentifier, or (d) the associated hierarchical structure.